https://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/balloon_juice_header_logo_grey.jpg00Elon James Whitehttps://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/balloon_juice_header_logo_grey.jpgElon James White2013-03-14 18:33:272013-03-14 18:33:27What is a 'good shooting?'

This post reminds me of another story that the blogs seem to have ignored (Politico link):

U.S. weighs in favor of right to record police
The Justice Department is urging a court to affirm individuals’ rights to record police under the First Amendment, filing a statement of interest in support of a journalist suing over his arrest while photographing Maryland officers.
In the statement filed this week in a federal court in Maryland, the Justice Department argues that not only do individuals have a First Amendment right to record officers publicly doing their duties, they also have Fourth and 14th Amendment rights protecting them from having those recordings seized without a warrant or due process. The DOJ urges the court to uphold these rights and to reject a motion to dismiss from Montgomery Co. in Garcia v. Montgomery Co., a case that has implications for an increasing crop of litigation on the subject in the era of ubiquitous smartphones.

The investigation involved 57 arrest warrants and 54 search warrants issued in Florida and five other states: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Nevada and Pennsylvania. At least 49 people were arrested; several defendants were to make their first appearance Thursday in Seminole County Court.

Bondi said that when charges are formally filed next week, they will include racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and possession of slot machines.

Records showed Allied Veterans paid at least $490,000 to Florida lobbyists between 2009 and 2012. International Internet Technologies, the software company that investigators said created the products used at the gambling centers, spent more than $1.2 million on Florida lobbyists during that same period. All of International Internet Technologies’ Florida lobbyists resigned Wednesday.

Florida campaign records also showed International Internet Technologies has poured in nearly $500,000 into campaign accounts since 2009, including more than $230,000 to the Republican Party of Florida and $60,000 to the Florida Democratic Party.

@scav: While tongues can easily be “cheeked” here, four or five hundred million of our neighbors use terms like: “He/She must have been doing something wrong or she wouldn’t have been in the position.”

Ah, if only the kid had had a gun – he could have protected himself… Oh, wait, having a gun is what got him killed.

This death shows the futility of carrying a gun for self-defense. Some plainclothes guys say “Police, hands up!” Muggers, or cops? Either way, they’ve probably got the drop on you. Plus, in Florida, they can say that they were “standing their ground” when they shot you.